Pear Bureau Northwest’s Kathy Stephenson says while Anjou production still leads the way, a couple of other varieties are making inroads …

STEPHENSON … “Star Krimson and Bartlett, those products will be terrific in the market and the Bartlett is about 16 percent of our total crop coming out of the Northwest. Star Krimson is a little bit less and usually that product goes pretty quickly, and people are loving it, they love the color and the lovely flavor so it’s fun to see that variety be a fan favorite right now.”

With regards to worries about trade tariffs other fruit growers are experiencing, Stephenson says it hasn’t really hit them … yet …

STEPHENSON … “Yeah, it does seem that the information changes every day, doesn’t it? So, yeah, apples are certainly on the list for several countries and Mexico just reported this week. And, we have not seen pears added to that list. We’re watching pretty closely, especially with China and Canada and Mexico are two of our largest trading partners for pears, so those markets are certainly very important.”